WWE's CM Punk Attacks Fanatic, Miraculously Avoids a Sacramento Riot

During the inaugural wild card round of the 2012 MLB playoffs, a home game for the Atlanta Braves turned ugly when a controversial call by the umpires resulted in Braves fans showing their displeasure by throwing debris onto the field.

The unsavory scene that ensued forced a delay at the apex of a hotly contested postseason matchup, producing more material under the "black eye" chapter of the big book of Commissioner Bud Selig's controversial administration.

Towards the conclusion of a defensive struggle between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens, Chiefs fans begun to cheer upon learning that Matt Cassel—their struggling quarterback—had suffered a head injury and as a result had to exit the game in favor of backup signal-caller Brady Quinn.

The disturbing display earned the ire of Chiefs offensive tackle Eric Winston, who publicly referred to the incident as "100 percent sickening" and admitting that he has "never been more embarrassed in [his] life to play pro football."

October, widely heralded as the best month in sports, coincides with a carousel of sporting events from NBA kickoff to the aforementioned MLB playoffs to the NFL. As a result, fanatic fever is out in full force, and now the virus of fanaticism has appeared to spread from sports to sports entertainment.

CM Punk pie-faced his way back into TMZ headlines following a scary incident where he instinctively attacked a fan. The attack was in response to the WWE champion being roughed up while standing in the crowd as part of a show-ending confrontation with Vince McMahon shortly after the two had brawled away in a wrestling match.

Review of the tape reveals CM Punk attacking an innocent bystander whom he thought was one of many individuals physically provoking him. He is lucky to have escaped without more controversy for the WWE, as the public reaction is nothing compared to how turbulent this situation could have become.

The wildly underrated Sacramento crowd had become so hot during Monday's show, the building was noticeably shaking during the main event when Vince McMahon gained the upper hand on CM Punk, kendo stick in hand.

Madison Square Garden is often used as the benchmark for hot crowds in pro wrestling. The only reason Madison Square Garden shakes is because it's old.

So when an innocent member of a raucous, building-shaking crowd at the height of its pandemonium is the victim of an assault from the WWE's top heel, the riot that should have ensued but thankfully didn't would have been the WWE's bad press moment of the year in a category loaded with formidable contenders.

The WWE's oversight blunder when it came to security is inexcusable. Booking a heel wrestler to sprint into a sea of fans with limited security made CM Punk chum bait for a catastrophic scene, and the fact that the NBA's brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills is without a pro wrestling equivalent is but shear luck.